Questions about law enforcement's response to the Texas elementary school mass shooting have emerged as bystanders say they pleaded with police to enter the building where their children were being killed, AP News reports.
Javier Cazares, the parent to slain fourth-grader Jacklyn Cazares, said he rushed to Robb Elementary after getting word of the shooting and arrived as police were still standing outside of the Uvalde, Texas school. Frustrated with responding cops, Cazares asked bystanders if they wanted to take matters into their own hands and rush inside of the building to save the students.
"Let's just rush in because the cops aren't doing anything like they are supposed to," the father said to the crowd.
Recounting the tragic event, Cazares said, "More could have been done. They were unprepared."
"There was at least 40 lawmen armed to the teeth but didn't do a darn thing until it was far too late," he added. "The situation could've been over quick if they had better tactical training, and we as a community witnessed it firsthand."
According to AP News, authorities are still working to clarify the timeline of the attack. Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said that 40 minutes to an hour is believed to have passed starting from the time suspected gunman Salvador Ramos shot a school security officer and entered the building and ending when the responding police force fatally shot him.
Despite the hazy timeline, McCraw said, “The bottom line is law enforcement was there." He added, “They did engage immediately. They did contain [Ramos] in the classroom.”
Footage has also surfaced of frantic bystanders being forcefully held back by law enforcement outside of the school, but it's unclear at what time of the shooting the video was taken. One woman pleading with officers to enter the building can be seen being pinned down to the ground.
"What are you doing? Get inside the building!" one person screamed.
"They're trapped inside," another bystander said in the surfaced footage.
Reports say responding Customs and Border Patrol agents were also delayed once they entered the building — they had to grab a key from school staff to open the classroom door where Ramos opened fire.
At least 19 students and two teachers were killed during the Robb Elementary massacre on Tuesday (May 24). The Uvalde community is mourning the loss of kids as young as eight and heroic educators.
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